Swedes win one at Hershey

HERSHEY—Gothenburg volleyball coach Becky Costello tells her Swede players the game is all about rhythm, momentum and emotion.

When one or more of those elements is missing, a team is likely to struggle, she said.

Gothenburg started strong against Bridgeport in the opening round of the Hershey quadrangular on Saturday and the Swedes remained strong pushing the Bulldogs to match point in the second set.

But when the game was tight and Costello had used all her allowed substitutions, girls were forced to play positions on the floor they don’t normally play.

That upset the rhythm and Bridgeport took the close game.

Then the momentum swung to the other side of the court and Gothenburg fell 23-25, 26-24, 25-16.

“We had to come from behind in all three sets against Bridgeport,” Costello said. “The girls did a good job. We didn’t miss a serve until the third set.”

But the letdown from losing that first game carried over into the second match against Hershey. Costello said.

“All of a sudden we couldn’t pass and our communication fell apart,” the coach said. “We started playing not to lose, like the girls were afraid to make a mistake, instead of playing to win.”

Without rhythm, the Swedes fell to the Panthers 25-11, 25-19.

In the final game of the day for the Swedes, Costello said she warned

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